A man in Texas has been accused of intentionally driving his expensive sports car into three feet of salt water. It is claimed that he chose to do this so he could collect on a $2.2 million insurance policy. The man says that it was an accident. Doing something like that on purpose could be considered insurance fraud.
In 2009, an man named Andy House, who is an auto dealer in Texas, owned a really expensive sports car. The car was a Bugatti Veryron EB. It is one of the most expensive types of sports cars in the entire world, and it was estimated to cost around $1.2 million.
It is wise to get insurance on vehicles that are incredibly expensive, just in case the car is stolen, or if the car gets into an accident. The man got a $2.2 million car insurance policy from Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance company.
Sometime in 2009, Andy House was driving his Bugatti Veryron EB, when he got into an accident. He said that he swerved in order to prevent hitting a seagull, and this caused him to drive into a Galveston Bay lagoon. He says that he was attacked by mosquitos after he, and the car, splashed down into three feet of salt water, and that is why he was unable to turn off the engine immediately after the accident. Running the engine, while it was submerged, caused further damage to the car.
Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance company has filed a federal lawsuit against Andy House. The insurer believes that he intentionally drove the extremely expensive car into the lagoon, in order to collect on the $2.2 million insurance policy. The date for this trial to take place has not yet been set.
The insurer points out that a passing motorist took a video of the accident, and posted it on YouTube. The video does not show any seagulls. It also doesn’t look as though Andy House made any attempt to hit the brakes before driving into the water. It is noted that the engine was running for fifteen minutes after the car hit the water.
If the insurer is correct, and the “accident” was done intentionally, then Andy House could, potentially, be considered to have filed a fraudulent insurance claim. In response to this allegation, Andy House has countersued the Philadelphia Indemnity Insurance company. His argument is that the insurer failed to pay as promised.
Image by cmonville on Flickr